Refrigerator car



July 3,v 1923.

I G. T. ROHRBACK fam-"R11GEMM'R CAR 2 sneets-sheet v1vv Fill' ed Dec 26 LMI July 3, 1923.

G. TROHRBACK REFR GERAS'OR CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patent .my s, i923.

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PATENT REFRIGERATOR CAR.

Application led December 28, 1922.' Serial No. 608,902.'

To all whom it may concern Be it known-that I, GEORGE T. ROHRBACK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Builalo, county of Erie, and State of New York, have invented certain new .and useful Improvements in Refrigerator Cars, of which the following is" a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereoff This invention relates to refrigerator cars of the type having one or more tanks for the reception of ice and salt, and has for its principal objects to provide a valve for controlling the discharge of excess brine from the tank or tanks, that will be automatically locked in either closed or open positions that will open freely and close securely notwithstanding the corrosive action of the brine,

that willcomprise a minimum of parts arid that can be easily and quickly assembled and taken apart.

The Master Car Builders rules require valves for retaining the brine in the tanks between icing stations located atsuitablepoints' along the way, and, while a great variety of constructions for these valves have been proposed and used, they have, to the best of my knowledge, all been defective in one way or another, and have all been unsatisfactory in service. In some, the action of the brine soon rendered the operation uncertain and ditlicult; in others there was more or less leakage and in all of them there were screw threaded pivots or fastenings which increased the cost of manufacture and were an ever present source of trouble and annoyance in service. In devising the present invention, particular `attention has been given to the correction of these defects. In the drawings which show a selected embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view show ing?` the tanks in the body of the car;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 0f Fig. 1"; A

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail showing the-valve lever in the positions it assumes when the valve is open; Fig. 4 is an enlarged assembly of the valve with a portion of the valve rod broken awa Fig. 5 is a plan View of a portion of t e valve lever and the fulcrum bracket on which it is pivoted;

' Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the valve casing, and a fragment of one 'of the tanks; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the valve lever.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the reference numeral 10 indicates the body of the car in which the tanks 11', 12, 1-3 and 14 are suitably mounted as, for, example, on floor 15. The roof of the car is provided with hatchways 16, communicating with two of the tanks and closed by suitable covers 17. These hatchways are preferably contracted towards the bottom and plugs 18 are forced tightly against the sides thereof to seal the tank space. All these parts may be ofl any suitable construction and arrangement.

The tanks are arranged in pairs on opposite sides o f the centre line of the car, and avalve 19 controls the discharge of brine from one orv more of the tanks. Preferably all the tankscommunicate with one valve, but of course, it is immaterial whether one or a plurality of these valves be employed.

As shown in Fig. 6, the valve 19 includes a casing 20, having a cap 21, secured-thereto by bolts 22. Adjacent to the bottom ,there are two inlets 23, by which lthe valve communicates with the tanks, through nipples 24, threaded into the valve inlets and secured to the tanks bythe nuts25, and the gaskets 26. Between the inlets is an outlet 27, fitted with an elbow 28 connected with a drain pipe 29, which may lead to la dripan 30, from which the brine is discharged trough -a nozzle 31, in the usual way. Between theinlets Aand the outlet is a valve 'seat' 32, adapted to cooperate with the\ gasket 33 carried by a valve plug 34. Preferably the gasket is made of rubber and fits about a narrow is cored out, as indicated at 37, and is equipped with threads 38 to .receive amvalve stem l39, which extends upwardly through the bearing 40 in the cap 21, :and is formed into an eye/41. A valve rod 42 has one end 43 -hooked in ythe eye 41, and the other end- 44, hooked about a pintle 4'5 on a bifurcated valve lever 46 fulcrumed on trunnions 47, mounted in the upper bearings 48 of the fulcrum bracket 49.

By referring to Fi 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that the brac 49 is mounted on a beam 50, of the car, which is slotted at 51 to permit the valve rod to passtherethrough and to swing as the lever is moved from the position shown in Fig. 2 tov that shown in Fig. 3. The fulcrum bracket is U-shaped and straddles the slot 51. A helneck 35 above `a head 36. The valve plug seat 32 when the lever 46 is lying in the position shown in Fig. 2 with the connection formed by the valve rod and the valve stem substantially free from objectionable slack. To open the valve the lever is rotated clock-wise from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3, during which the pintle 45 passes across the direct line betweenthe eye 4l and the trunnions 47, with the result that the spring 52 locks the lever against the base of the fulcrum 49, thus retaining the valve ,open until such time as the lever is manually moved past this direct line in a counter-clock-wise direction when the spring will snap the valve shut and seal the gasket against the seat 32.

The valve plug 34 has considerable clearance as indicated at 5,5, which permits it .to'operate freely even though the Walls of the casing and the/surface of the plug are rusted or otherwise coated by the action of the brine. ,r

The valve lever 46 is one integral piece, including the trunnions 4'( 'and the pintle 45, andis preferably made by 4casting. A fulcrum bracket 49 is also preferably made by vcasting Iand the bearings 48 "are left open to permit free insertion and Withdrawal of the trunnions 47. The hooks 43 and 44 of the valve rod 42 are left open to permit it to be uickly engaged with and disengaged from t e eye 4l, and the pintle 45. The springr 52 permits insulcient slack in the valve lifting mechanism to allow lany of the parts to become disengaged in ordinary use, or during travel, but when it is y desired to take the valve apart, the trunnions can be lifted out of the bearings 48, the handlever disengaged from the valve rod and the valve rod unhooked from the eye 41 without the use of any tools and with a minimum of eiort. Likewise, in assembling, the reverse order serves to put the parts in operative condition quickly'and easily.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a refrigerator car, the combination Aof a tank having an outlet, a valve controlhaving integral trunnions mounted in the' bearings and an integral pintle between the furcations, a hook rod for detachably connecting the pintle and the valve stem and resilient means forseating. said valve and for preventing accidental disengagement of said hook rod. A v

2. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a tank having an outlet, a valve controlling said outlet including an upright casing having a valve seat, a valve plug adapted to close With'said seat, a vvalve stem connected with said valve plug and projecting through said casin a spring between the upper portion of t e casing land the valve plug constantly urging the latter towards said seat, and means for raising the valve plug against the resistance of said spring, including a fulcrum bracket having bearmgsspaced by an intermediate passage, a bifurcated lever fulcrumed in said bearings and having an intermediately located pin` tle, a rod inv hooked engagement -with said pintle and said valve stem, and means for limiting the movement of said lever in both directions but permitting it to swing past center, whereby said -Valve is held open against the resiliency of said spring in one position of said lever and is held closed by said spring in the other position of said lever.

3. In a refrigerator car, a ,combination of a pair of tanks, a valve including an upright casing having inlets communicating with each of said tanks, and an outlet leading therefrom, a valve seat between fsaid inlets and' said outlet, a valve plug adapted to close with said seat and having freeclearance in said casing, a valve stem connected with said plug and projecting upwardly through said casing, and means for opening and closing said valve GEORGE T. ROHRBACK. 

